Ryan DeOrdio: Con: War can't defeat terrorism

Ryan DeOrdio, a senior at Onondaga Central Junior-Senior High School, wrote this essay for the February 22 Voices page.

By Ryan DeOrdio Contributing writer

This year, President Barack Obama intends to send more United States military personnel to Afghanistan. Although I support President Obama on many issues, I disagree with this decision.

One reason some support the troop increase is because they believe Afghanistan is a hotbed for terrorists. However, according to ABC News, Afghanistan houses only 100 members of al-Qaida.

I think people are also under the impression, “If we pull out now, we will look weak internationally.” I believe this is the exact attitude that unnecessarily prolonged the Vietnam War. If the United States were to conform to this theory, it puts itself in a situation with no foreseeable end. By acting stubbornly in attempts to show strength, our country puts itself at risk of continuing a war that is impossible to win. This sentiment is the same mind-set that I think plagued the George W. Bush administration.

I believe there are many conditions that make the war in Afghanistan impossible to win. For one, the main reason for this war is to stop terrorism, preventing future incidents similar to 9/11. But not one of the individuals who were held responsible for the 9/11 attacks were from Afghanistan. Much like the attempts to defeat the ideology of communism with the Vietnam War, terrorism cannot be defeated because it is an ideology. If you kill one terrorist there will be others who were taught the same to replace the deceased.

The question of “Then what should we do?” arises. To me, the best solution would be to remove all U.S. military personnel from Afghanistan, increase security at home to prevent future terrorist attacks and rely on state-of-the-art military technology to attack areas suspected to house high-profile terrorists without risking U.S. military lives.